US Foreign Relations and Latin America

Marc Becker Contribution

US Foreign Relations

in Latin America

 

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Course Basics              

Meets:

Karp 005

MWF 1:50-2:55

 

Instructor:

Elena McGrath mcgrathe@union.edu

Office Hours:

Lippman 110 or Zoom

Monday 12:30-1:30,

Wednesday 3:00-5:00

Other times too, please make an appointment

 

Books                

O’Brien, Thomas F. Making the Americas: The United States and Latin America from the Age of Revolutions to the Era of Globalization. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2007.

 

Soluri, John. Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006.

 

Chomsky, Aviva. Linked Labor Histories: New England, Colombia, and the Making of a Global Working Class. Duke University Press, 2008.

 

I recognize that course materials may represent a financial burden on you. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me and I will do what I can to help.

 

          Course Overview & Objectives

 

This is not really a class about diplomats. This is a course about the shared histories, cultural exchanges, and networks of power that have shaped the Americas. Since the 19th century, the United States has positioned itself as the local “superpower” nation, often with disastrous effects for the rest of the hemisphere. There was nothing inevitable about this relationship, however, and in this class we will look at how actors in the US and in Latin America constructed and contested networks of power from the 19th century through our current moment, from the Banana Wars to the Drug Wars. We will identify hot spots and moments of transition that helped create the globalized world of today, with a focus on two case studies: the United Fruit Company in Honduras and addictive substances like coal, coffee, and cocaine in Colombia. In the process, you will learn a few different lenses or methodologies that historians can use to ask questions, gaining exposure to the tactics and tools of environmental, cultural, commodity, and labor history.

 

 

 

 

 

Yankee Go Home

What Skills and Enduring Understandings will you get out of this class

Long after you take this class, you will have the tools to ask:

What are the structures of oppression that underpin the world we live in?

How have people sought to change these structures?

What were some of the problems that they faced?

What can we learn from this history?

What do I want to do about it?

United Fruit Company Steamship Service -1915A | United fruit company,  Steamship, The unit

You will use the following skills:

  • Close Reading
  • Using Primary and Secondary Sources
  • Project management
  • Synthesizing and Evaluating Ideas
  • Supporting Arguments with Evidence
  • Crafting Narratives for an Audience
  • Writing Persuasively
  • Teamwork

 

 

Course Format

Instruction

The teaching methods used in this course will include: lectures, student presentations, class and small group discussions, and individual and group activities relevant to the topics at hand.

 

Course Technologies

 

Preparation, Participation and Attendance

Students are responsible for all material covered in class meetings and assigned readings. We will cover a substantial amount of material in what seems like a short period of time. Therefore, adequate preparation for class (completion of assigned readings and projects), regular attendance and active participation are essential for the success of this class as a whole and for your individual success in it. This class only meets thirty times. Missing three classes is equivalent to missing ten percent of the course. Students who are unable to attend class should contact the instructor prior to the absence and obtain content of the class from other students. While I expect you to both attend class and participate in assignments, I also respect your right as an adult to determine when and how you do so.

 Practical Details

Contacting Me

I am available to answer questions and troubleshoot problems in class, in office hours, and over email. My pronouns are she/her/hers and you may call me Elena or Professor McGrath in person or email communication. In general, if you need something quick or have a question that is yes/no, grabbing me after class or shooting me an email is a great way to get my attention. I don’t answer emails at all hours but I try to get back to everyone within 24-48 hours.

 

If you have a more complicated question, please set up a time to meet in office hours. You can make an appointment by following this link. I prefer you set a time than just drop by, this helps me plan my day more effectively.

 

Your Librarian

The librarian assigned to this class is Lindsay Bush. She can be reached at bushl@union.edu and can help you troubleshoot research, getting access to documents and all library things.

 

 

 

 
 

 

Accommodations

Union College is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all students. The Accommodative Services Office, located in Reamer Campus Center, is the campus office that collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations. If you have, or think you may have, a disability (e.g., mental health, attentional, learning, autism spectrum disorders, chronic health, traumatic brain injury and concussions, vision, hearing, mobility, or speech impairments), please contact Accommodative Services at 518-388-8785 or shinebas@union.edu to arrange a confidential discussion regarding equitable access and reasonable accommodations. Please also let me know as soon as possible so I can collaborate with you in this class.

 alternative testing arrangements.

 


 

  Content Warning

As with the world we live in today, the societies that we will be exploring carry the marks of colonialism, oppression, and violent forms of exclusion. In order to better understand their histories and ours, our class discussions will sometimes deal with difficult topics including rape, slavery, abuse and torture. I do not expect everyone to be able to easily talk about these issues already, and one of my goals in this class is that you will leave the semester with more tools for confronting difficult subjects and relating to others who are having difficulty doing so. Before these discussions I will ask you to consider that your own emotional and intellectual reactions to these topics may not be shared by every other student. Please enter these discussions humbly.

 

Inclusion

Colombian villagers are unionising to fight against multinational mining  firmsOur individual differences enrich and enhance our understanding of one another and of the world around us.

 

This class welcomes the perspectives of all ethnicities, genders, religions, ages, sexual orientations, disabilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, regions, and nationalities. I encourage you to learn and use your fellow students’ names and preferred pronouns.

 

 

          Honor Code         

Union College recognizes the need to create an environment of mutual trust as part of its educational mission. Responsible participation in an academic community requires respect for and acknowledgement of the thoughts and work of others, whether expressed in the present or in some distant time and place.

 

 

Matriculation at the College is taken to signify implicit agreement with the Academic Honor Code, available at honorcode.union.edu. It is each student's responsibility to ensure that submitted work is his or her own and does not involve any form of academic misconduct.

Your Wellbeing

 

Nothing in this class is as important as your mental and emotional health.

 

Union College urges you to make yourself--your own health and well-being--your priority throughout this ten-week term and your career here. It is important to recognize stressors you may be facing, which can be personal, emotional, physical, financial, mental, or academic. Sleep, exercise, and connecting with others can be strategies to help you flourish at Union. If you are having difficulties maintaining your well-being, feel free to contact me and/or pursue other resources, such as Student Health and Counseling or the Office of Health Promotion.

 

Students are expected to ask their course instructors for clarification regarding, but not limited to, collaboration, citations, and plagiarism. Ignorance is not an excuse for breaching academic integrity.

 

 

In this class you are encouraged and allowed to work together on projects. Unless explicitly noted otherwise, it is acceptable to consult with others but the work you submit should be in your own words and represent your own effort

 

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Assessments and Assignments

Your final grade in this course will be based on a portfolio of research, writing, and in class participation assignments:

Goal Setting and Reflection

This is your roadmap. What do you want to get out of this class? What skills do you want to learn? What skills do you want to practice? Are there specific topics you want to learn more about? In this assignment, you will set goals and at the end of the term you will reflect on what you learned.

Weekly Participation in Class: 

Talking in class is 20% of your grade. Each Monday and Wednesday, before class, you should submit a quote from the reading that you want to discuss, and a question you have for your classmates. Doing this means you will ALWAYS have something to say!

Group Leading Class Discussion

Once over the course of the term, you and a small group of students will lead a Friday discussion based on the readings. You will need to prepare questions and a 15 minute activity, submitted to me the night before.

Weekly Personal Journal

This is a space for you to play with ideas. You will be graded on completion, not content. In your first paragraph, briefly summarize the readings for the previous week. In the next 2-3 paragraphs, you will respond to one of the weekly questions I have put together in the Question Bank. You have the full term to complete 5 entries, but I will give you feedback on your journals in week 6.

Choose Your Own Midterm Assessment: 

These are designed to measure your understanding of the historical context surrounding a specific issue in a specific time and place. You should primarily base your information on the course readings, discussions, and lectures. See examples on the next page! 

Choose Your Own Final Project:

This assignment is designed to get you to synthesize the information from the class and answer the questions, “So What?” and “Now What?” Unlike the midterm, which was all about setting yourself in the past and thinking like a historical character, for this you will be assessed on how you apply what you learned in this class to our contemporary moment.

 

 

 

Midterm Possibilities

CIA Field Report

Just the facts, ma’am! Pick a relevant event and give your superior officer a summary of the most important information you would have available. What would a CIA operative want or need to know about? 

Honest Ad Campaign

Open envelopeRedesign an ad for a product we have studied. Copy the style of the ads that actually existed, but offer your own editorial reflecting what is actually happening on the ground. Justify your creative choices with references to class materials.

 

Letter to the Editor

PodcastThis letter should be set in a period in the past that we have studied. You are a college student in the US, trying to educate your local community about a relevant issue affecting Latin America and the US. Tailor your argument to your *historical* audience. What biases might you need to address?

Letter from the Future 

Similar to the letter above, except you are writing from a contemporary perspective back to a family member or someone from the past. What do you wish they knew in retrospect? Tailor your argument to a friendly audience, but be persuasive.  

Boycott/Solidarity Campaign Poster

This is like the honest ad campaign above, but specifically designed to mobilize support and solidarity around an issue. Make sure you are reflecting the style of the era and the historical period you have picked. 

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 Final Possibilities

Lobby your Congressperson

What is a pressing issue in the hemisphere that needs to be addressed? Knowing what you know about US/Latin American relations, how should the US Government respond? Create a set of campaign materials with a) background materials, b) a clear “ask”, and c) a set of justifications for why the issue matters.

Ethical Consumer Manifesto

Fair trade, eco, green? What does it all mean? Write a manifesto for how you and your friends should behave as responsible and ethical consumers of global products. How will you know when something is ethically sourced? This does not have to be solely “about” Latin America, but you should use your learning from this class. 

Revising Open Veins of Latin America

In 1971, the Uruguayan writer wrote Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina, a scathing critique of neo colonialism and four centuries of exploitation in the hemisphere that went viral in its day. How would you update this text for 2021? 

Commodity History Podcast

In the model of the BBC Podcast, 50 Things that Shaped the Modern Economy, or a similar show, write and produce a popular history of a thing, object, or commodity that has shaped US/Latin American Relations.

Industrial Espionage

Espionage Detective Silhouette Intelligence Agency - secret agent png  download - 512*512 - Free Transparent Espionage png Download. - Clip Art  LibraryPick a contemporary company that operates globally and figure out where it came from, where it has operated, who owns it, and how it relates to both local communities and governments. Create a report, graphic, or something similar that shows how it navigates the contemporary world.

 
 

 

 

 

Course Outline and Schedule

This is a general overview. For each day’s specific assignment, please follow NEXUS

Week 1:

M:        9/13               Introducing the Class! Read the Syllabus

 

W:       9/15               What are the Americas? Making the Americas, Ch 1

 

F:         9/17               The Road to Empires, Making the Americas, Ch 2

                                               

Week 2:

M:        9/20               The Civilizing Empire, Making the Americas, Ch 3, Banana Cultures, 1-40.

 

W:       9/22               Banana Cultures, Ch 2

 

F:         9/24               Linked Labor Histories, Intro and Ch 1

Course Goals Due Friday, September 24

                                   

Week 3:

M:        9/27               Defending the Empire, Making the Americas Ch 4, Banana Cultures, Ch 3

 

W:       9/29               Banana Cultures, Ch 4

 

F:         10/1               Linked Labor Histories, Ch 2, 99% Invisible Podcast: Fordlandia

 

Week 4:

M:        10/4               From Depression to War, Making the Americas, Ch 5, Banana Cultures Ch 5

 

W:       10/6               Banana Cultures, Ch 6

 

F:         10/8               Olsson: “Sharecroppers and Campesinos”

 

Week 5:

M:        10/11             Nationalism, Communism, and Modernization Making the Americas, Ch 6, Banana Cultures, Ch 7

Chiquita Banana Production Cel (Chiquita Brands, 1970s/80s).... | Lot  #95627 | Heritage Auctions

W:       10/13             Banana Cultures, Ch 8;

Cullather, “Mexico’s Way Out”

 

F:         10/15             No Class

 

 

Reading Journal Due Next Week.

 

Midterm Assessment Due October 11 or 18

 

 

Week 6:

M:        10/18             Defending the Mission of Modernization, Making the Americas, Ch 7, Linked Labor Histories, Ch 3

 

W:       10/20             Linked Labor Histories, Ch 5 and 6

 

F:         10/22             Molly Geidel, At the Point of the Lance

                       

Midterm Assessment Due October 11 or 18

                                   

Week 7

M:        10/25             Dictatorship and Revolution, Making the Americas, Ch 8, Linked Labor Histories, Ch 7 and Conclusion.

 

W:       10/27             Britto, Lina. “Hurricane Winds: Vallenato Music and Marijuana Traffic in Colombia’s First Illegal Drugs Boom.” The Hispanic American Historical Review 95, no. 1 (2015): 71–102.

 

F:         10/29             The Crisis Podcast: (also available in Spanish) Prologue and Ch 1

 

Week 8

M:        11/1               Insurgency and Insolvency, Making the Americas, Ch 9.

 

W:       11/3               The Crisis Podcast: Ch 2, Paley, Drug War Capitalism, Ch 1.

 

F:         11/5               The Crisis Podcast: Ch 3-4

 

Week 9

M:        11/8               Globalization and its Discontents, Making the Americas, Ch 10, Linked Labor Histories, Ch 4

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W:       11/10             The Crisis Podcast: Ch 5

 

F:         11/12             Patrick Radden Keefe, "Cocaine Incorporated" The New York Times, June 15, 2012 and “Tamperproof” from Empire of Pain.

 

Week 10

M:        11/15             Student Reflections and Final Presentations

Listen: Latino USA Puerto Crypto and Read: Bitcoin in El Salvador, June 9, 2021 NACLA Report on the Americas.

W:       11/17             Student Reflections and Final Presentations

 

Final Assessment and Reflection Due Monday, November 22

 

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